Parting words
by Perceptions of a young dreamer
Summary: Jason said some things he didn't mean which drove Raven away, he didn't know that they could possibly be the last words he ever said to her. Will she heal to return to him or has he lost her forever? Red X (Jason Todd) and Raven pairing. With Bat family also there. Robin and Raven friendship.


_**Disclaimer- I don't own the Teen titans or anything related.**_

_**Jason Todd is Red X.**_

_**The titans are in their mid- twenties. Raven and Jason are living together in Gotham after the titans were taken over by younger heroes; but they still went on mission assigned to them by the league.**_

Strong winds blew as dark clouds adorned the sky. Thunder raked through the skies and the clouds were desperate to shed the water they had been holding. A storm was brewing.

But it was nothing compared the storm of emotions which trapped Raven and Jason which was ready to swallow them whole.

"How can you not tell me Jason?" Raven said in anger, a few objects rattled in dark magic. Jason sighed in frustration "It wasn't important."

Raven sharply turned to face her boyfriend and hissed "How can you think it wasn't important? You took three bullets Jason near your heart...three bullets! You almost died."

"I'm not dead, so how is it any important now?" he said, anger and frustration creeping in his voice.

"You are my boyfriend Jason, it is important to me." She yelled, a few more objects rattling now. They had been fighting for about an hour now and they both were incredibly thin on their patience.

"I am fine now, so why are you making it a bigger deal than it is." He yelled back.

She took a step towards him and exclaimed "It is a big deal because you are important to me. Don't you get that?"

He also took a step towards her and yelled "No, what I don't understand why are you so mad?"

"I am mad at you because I love you." She spat turning away from him in frustration.

Raven and Jason had been dating for two years now and were living together. Jason had just returned from a long mission and Raven got to know that he didn't tell her that he nearly died had Batman not intervened. Which was also why Jason didn't want to talk about it, he was pissed off because Batman saved him; needless to say he still had some issues with his adoptive father.

After Batman found out that he was the anti- hero, Red-X; he tried to get Jason to join the family again, Jason was a little reluctant about that but he became a hero again.

Jason growled and grabbed her arm to make her look at him, his eyes were pulsing green from the pit as he snapped "Maybe that's the problem" Raven gasped and looked at him with shock and hurt.

"...I can take care of myself, I don't need anyone and even if I did I am sure as hell that I don't need a pathetic demon like you." He added after a couple of moments of shocked silence, his eyes still pulsing green.

They were silent for a couple of moments as his words hung between them like poisonous daggers. Raven looked at him with tears welling up in her eyes, his eyes lost the green tint as the realization of his words dawned upon him. He took a step towards his girlfriend who was on the verge of crying and reached out to touch her and protect her against his harsh words but she stepped back and chanted her mantra to teleport away from him.

He was reaching forward to grab her before she teleported away but he was too late, he looked at the spot which was previously occupied by his beloved girlfriend and he sunk his face in his hands and pulled his hair a little roughly.

This wasn't how today was supposed to go; he wanted to spend time with his beloved girlfriend after being away for so long. He had missed her so much.

He honestly wasn't thinking when he spoke, he just saw red at that moment and he didn't mean anything he said. He loved her, more than anything in his life and her love was one thing he treasured more than anything and that would never ever be a problem; and he couldn't live without her.

He knew that his words hurt her, despite her emotionless appearance Raven felt everything very deeply and she had told him that she never felt like anyone needed her or wanted her and hearing those words from him would have really broken her heart.

He grabbed his phone and his gear and rushed out of their apartment to find his girlfriend while he dialled her number and tried to track her phone.

Meanwhile Raven teleported herself away from their apartment, she wiped her tears but they continued to fall, she slowly walked to the nearest bar and sat ordering a drink for herself. His words had cut deep and had hurt her a lot more than she could fathom and the only thing she wanted to do now was drink.

Yeah, many of her boyfriend's habits had rubbed onto her.

She sighed and placed her head in her hands, silently crying while his words repeated themselves in her mind. She was brought out of her thoughts when she heard her phone ring.

She pulled it out of her pocket and saw the picture of her boyfriend and his name flash on the screen. She cut the call and switched off her phone so that he couldn't track her and shoved it back in her pocket.

As she drank she thought about her options, she could go to her big brother but he was off on some mission with Kori. So the alien was also out, maybe she could speak to Richard, no she stopped that train of thought.

After her last encounter with Damian and now with Jason, she couldn't speak to him. She couldn't deal with bats anymore. '_Maybe what they said was true, why will they need me?_' she thought sadly and ordered another drink.

Damian Wayne, the blood son of Bruce Wayne was her close friend but even he tended to say things without thinking. And what he said last time to her had felt like he had stabbed her.

Yeah, she wasn't having good days.

After a few hours, she sat in the bar almost drunk when she felt a familiar presence approach her but she didn't bother to look. Nope, she didn't care who it was or what they wanted, they could all go to hell.

"Finally Raven, Jason is going crazy looking for you." Came the familiar voice of her good friend, Richard as he sat beside her on a bar stool.

Richard was actually worried because if Jason had called him for help finding Raven then they must have had a bad fight. Jason usually stayed distant and didn't call for help unless he was really desperate. And now his worries increased as he saw Raven drinking, many glasses surrounded her and she was holding one also. Raven was usually level headed and logical; and if she was drinking heavily then she must be really upset.

"Don't care...leave me alone." She slurred and continued drinking from the glass in her hand. He sighed and turned to look at her, her shoulders were slumped in defeat and she was holding onto the glass as if her life was depending on it. He couldn't see her face as it was shadowed by her now long wavy hair.

He was about to say something when he saw a few tears drop on the bar as she finished her drink. She placed her glass on the table and extended her card towards the bartender to pay for her drinks. "What happened Rae? Tell me" he said calmly but also firmly as he placed his hand on her shoulder in a friendly way.

"Nothing...just leave me be." Came her low reply. Raven internally snarled at her demon anatomy, she couldn't even get drunk fully; she was just tipsy right now. She got up, shaking off his hand and turned to leave the bar when he grabbed her hand to stop her from leaving. She just jerked her hand back.

"You are one of my best friends, please tell me." He pleaded again. She wrapped her hands around herself and mumbled "Damian and Jason are right."

And she walked out of the bar leaving a confused Richard behind, what were his brothers right about. He ran to catch up with Raven who was walking slowly; he jogged beside her and asked "Where are you going?"

The streets seemed a little empty for it deep in the night and a storm had just passed, leaving puddles of water in its wake.

She didn't have a destination in mind, she was just walking. "Jason doesn't need me." She mumbled again, her eyes droopy and her legs shaky. Richard turned towards her as he walked, not seeing where they walked.

Richard had directed all his attention towards the young woman in front of him who was a very strong demon, who was the queen of hell and could destroy the world on a whim but right now she was vulnerable and sad. He was trying to understand and maybe then solve what was troubling her but he couldn't understand anything from her cryptic answers.

Before he could say anything, a light flashed behind him, Raven turned and pushed him away. He was caught off guard by this and he fell and as he fell he heard a crashing sound and a sound of a vehicle stopping forcefully. His heart skipped a beat as he realized what happened.

He got up quickly and ran towards the truck; he hadn't realized that they were walking on the road. When he reached he saw the bleeding body of Raven near an electric pole with sparks falling from the pole because of the collision and a few wires laying near her, and a man panicking as he dialled a number. Richard ran towards his friend and saw her clothes seeping blood, she was bloodied and bruised with a deep gash on her forehead.

He drew her to his lap and said frantically "Raven...look at me." Her eyes were half hooded, there were silence as he quickly scooped her up and made his way over to the cave as that was the place nearest to them and one of the very few places equipped to help her. His heart was jumping loudly, his friend saved him but maybe at her cost. "Jason." She mumbled and passed out; her body limp in his arms as he rushed.

'_Oh God, Jason! How would he handle this?_' Richard knew that he had to call Jason but right now his priority was making sure that his friend would survive.

He jumped quickly but carefully and ran as to not hurt the empath, he didn't care if his clothes were bloodied, and he just had to make sure she was all right.

Richard didn't want to think about the worst, he pinged the emergency button which he always had on his belt to alert the cave. He was panting for air by the time he reached but he quickly entered the pass code and saw his mentor, his father standing there with his younger brother, Tim.

"What happened Richard?" Batman asked as he took the young woman from Richard's arms and rushed her to the medical wing. "Accident...she saved me." He said in between long intakes of air.

Batman carefully but swiftly took the young woman to the medical wing, blood was seeping from her wounds and her bruises were turning blue-black for some reason.

Batman was quite fond of the young empath, at the beginning he did not approve his second son dating an inter- dimensional demon's daughter but she had slowly won him over. He saw that she made Jason happy and made him feel loved and honestly he didn't want anything more than that. After everything Jason had been through he deserved happiness.

With extreme caution he did a scan of her and started her treatment.

Richard sighed and saw his hands and clothes which were covered in the dark beauty's blood. He sat with Tim; they didn't say anything for they were sad and worried for their friend. Richard rubbed his eyes and took out his phone and dialled his younger brothers' phone.

After a couple of rings Jason picked up his phone.

"Did you find her?" Came his desperate question. "Jason...something has happened."

Jason reached the cave and yelled "Where the hell is she?!" his heart was thumping so fast and loudly that he could hear it over the lightning raking the city outside the shelter of the cave as he approached Richard and Tim.

When he saw his older brother, time stopped for him and his heart started beating faster if possible, adrenaline pumped through his veins. Richard's clothes were stained in dark blood along with his hands; Jason tried to steady himself when he saw that Richard didn't look at him.

He growled and asked again in a dangerously low voice "Where is my girlfriend?" Richard looked at him with concern and guilt lacing his expression and sighed sadly "In the medical wing..." Jason pulled Richard's collar so that they were eye to eye as he roared "What the damn hell happened?"

Richard freed himself from his brother's grasp with a deep breath and told him everything. Him finding her in a bar, she almost drunk and unwilling to speak to him, and her saving him from being hit by a truck but getting hurt instead.

Richard turned and saw fury and concern on his younger brother's face, before Jason could say anything Batman walked towards them. Jason ran towards their mentor and asked frantically "How is she? Is she okay?"

Batman sighed and looked at his son who was fidgeting in his worry and was two seconds away from running towards his girlfriend. "Jason, she hasn't woken up yet and is very weak. We won't know fully about her condition until she has woken up."

"What happened to her?" He demanded. Batman sighed and said reluctantly "She has lost a lot of blood and has four broken bones and one fractured rib."

"But she can heal herself." Jason stated in anger. Batman took off his cowl and said "Her powers are exhausted after protecting her heart from the current."

Wordlessly Jason ran towards the medical wing and towards his weak girlfriend. He opened the glass door with a shaky breath and saw his strong and beautiful girlfriend now looking pale and fragile. Her head was bandaged as were some parts of her hands and she was hooked onto several machines, he slowly walked towards her and saw her midriff also bandaged.

He carefully held her hand, cautious enough to not cause her more pain than she already is in. He kneeled beside her on the floor and kissed her hand "Wake up, love...if only to be angry at me; but please wake up...I need you." His heart beat was mirroring the thunder that was echoing in the city.

He said the last part shakily and rested his head beside her, trying to blink away the tears forming in his eyes.

Bruce, Richard and Tim saw the scene before them and were astonished seeing Jason like this, so broken over someone. They all hoped that Raven would wake up soon, for she was the only one who could heal Jason also.

Jason woke up to a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. He lifted his head hoping it was all a bad dream but when he met with the bandaged body of his girlfriend his face fell. He looked over his shoulder and saw his father standing with a concerned expression.

"She'll be okay Jason; she loves you too much to leave you." Bruce comforted his son. Jason sighed sadly and rubbed his eyes saying "I screwed up Bruce...I said some things I didn't mean, I hurt her...I am the reason she is like this. If I hadn't said all that then she wouldn't have left...and then she wouldn't have been in this condition."

"Thinking like this won't do you any good Jason, all you can do right now is learn from your mistakes. And I am sure that she will be okay, she's very strong." Bruce said wisely.

"You haven't slept in two nights, go on. I'll sit with her." Bruce added. "I can't leave her." Jason said stubbornly.

Bruce sighed and said "At least go shower and eat something...until then I'll sit here."

Jason thought over his mentor's words and then reluctantly nodded and kissed his girlfriend's hand which he had been holding and got up "I'll be back soon, love."

Bruce watched his son walk out and then turned his attention towards the young empath in front of him and said softly to her "Jason needs you, he's happy with you and I haven't seen him this happy since a long time."

After a couple of minutes the dark knight saw a twitch of black magic on the empath's fingertips; he sighed a bit in relief knowing that she was in there somewhere.

After an hour, the glass doors swished open and Bruce met with the face of his eldest son, "Where's Jason?" the older hero asked.

"He passed out on his bed." Richard said with a slight chuckle and the dark knight just smiled a little and then turned his attention back to the dark beauty.

0O0

"Where's Raven?" Jason roared as he saw the empty bed in the bat cave, his fury was surfacing as Tim approached him and said softly "Bruce and Dick shifted her to the Manor while you were sleeping...they are with her at the moment."

"Thanks replacement." He nodded at his younger brother and approached his old home through one of the many secret entrances to his old home. He approached the medical room, situated in the depths of the manor and saw Raven still unconscious and Richard sitting on a chair beside her and reading some novel to her sleeping form.

Jason walked inside and grabbed a chair, and pulled it so that he could sit with by his girlfriend. Richard paused from his reading and said with a tiny smile "Bruce said that her wounds are healing rather quickly."

"Then why isn't she waking up?" Jason said with desperation and worry lacing his voice. Richard placed a hand on his brother's shoulder "She'll wake up, Jaybird...she is too stubborn. It will just take some time."

Jason didn't reply instead he just looked at his girlfriend.

After a couple of long, slow moments "I'm sorry...if only I had paid more attention to where I was walking then she wouldn't have to save me."

Jason turned and looked at the guilty expression of his elder brother, he couldn't pretend that he wasn't angry at him for not protecting Raven but then he remembered that his girlfriend was Raven, and if the choice came to save herself or others then she would chose others in a heartbeat.

Her selflessness was something he both admired and hated at the same time.

"Don't apologize Dick, I asked you to help me find her...in a way it's my fault." Jason muttered. Richard placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and picked up the book again and began reading from where he had left off.

Jason didn't say anything instead he lightly kissed her hand before holding it tightly between his. He also noticed the light flame of magic on her fingertips and smiled in relief internally, knowing that her magic was slowly coming back, which would help her heal.

A week went by; Raven was still unconscious; she had begun to show signs of rapid healing when one day her heart beats started to slow down. The whole bat family started panicking but Bruce had restarted her heart via electric shocks. Jason was two seconds away from losing control but when he heard the rhythmic beating of her heart, he calmed down.

And since that day he refused to leave her side but after his brothers, Alfred's and Bruce's constant coaxing he was made to eat, shower and sleep. And he was not to be given entry unless he did all that, Jason grumbled as he left his girlfriend's side after kissing her jewel lightly and muttering an 'I'll be back.'

Today Damian was watching Raven; he hadn't come to see her ever since he found out that she was in the medical wing. He couldn't face her as he remembered his last words to her. His heart was filled with guilt when he remembered how hurt she looked.

"I didn't mean anything I said." Damian muttered softly.

"What did you say exactly?" Richard asked from the door. Damian whipped his head towards the source of the voice and sighed knowing that he cannot lie to his elder brother.

"I said something I didn't mean...I said that she was a mistake and when Todd realizes that fact he will also leave her."

There was a moment's silence, Damian looked at the carpet in shame; unable to meet his brother's disapproving stare.

"You said WHAT to my girlfriend." Jason yelled from the entrance of the room, which had Richard and Damian's gaze snapping over to him. And he looked furious with his eyes pulsing green. Jason stalked towards the ex- assassin but before he could say anything Richard came in between them and placed a hand on Jason's chest, holding him back so that he wouldn't bruise the youngest Wayne.

"He didn't think before he spoke, Jaybird and he regrets it." Richard said.

"And that makes it forgivable!" yelled Jason. "No, it doesn't. Let me speak to him while you sit with Raven." Richard said calmly.

Jason glared and growled as he sat on the chair near his girlfriend as Richard pulled Damian out of the room.

They stood outside in silence; Richard's glare was piercing into Damian. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize to me...you need to apologize to Raven when she wakes up...and next time think before you speak, your words did hurt her a lot and made her think that what you said was right." Richard said and walked off.

Damian walked in the room when Jason had left for a minute or so; he walked over to the unconscious form of his best friend and said "I apologize for my cruel words Raven, I didn't mean any part of it...we are lucky to have you in our lives and I hope that you wake up soon." He saw her fingers twitch and her magic seep through her fingers.

That evening, Bruce was watching Raven and Jason, as he had slept with his resting beside her on the bed and his hands holding hers in a gentle but firm grasp. Bruce silently did a scan of her and saw that all her wounds were healing quickly.

Suddenly the young girl gasped lightly and blearily opened her eyes, she felt a heavy weight on her hand and when she turned she saw her boyfriend sleeping with his head near her and her hand in between his. He stirred a bit but didn't wake up.

"Finally you're awake." Bruce said with a soft smile towards the girl he was coming to think of as a daughter. "H-how?"

"Dick brought you here." He replied softly. When he saw that Raven was about to say something he added "Sleep, we can talk after you have fully rested."

Raven wanted to protest but her eyes were droopy from the medication, she slowly gave in and slept. The dark knight looked at the now sleeping young woman and smiled in relief, she was awake and all right. He then turned to his son and lightly shook him awake to give him the news.

Raven slowly opened her eyes and was met with the beautiful aquamarine eyes of her boyfriend and his smiling face. "There she is, sunshine." He said softly.

"You gave us quite a scare Rae." Richard said; Raven turned towards the source of the voice and saw the Tim, Richard, Damian standing near the opposite wall with Bruce standing on her right side with relief shining in his eyes and Alfred standing at the entrance with a small smile. Jason helped Raven sit up as he placed pillows behind her to support her.

Bruce saw the confusion on her face and said "Let's give them some privacy; we can speak to Raven later." They all nodded and shuffled out of the room, as the door closed behind them, Raven found herself crushed to Jason's chest.

"I'm sorry Rae...I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking, I didn't mean it, I didn't mean any of it." He said frantically. Raven could feel his tremble as he pulled her tighter against him and kissed her hairline.

She slowly pulled away and saw the worry written on his face "Don't let me go again." She placed her hand on the right side of his face and he leaned into it "Never little bird, never again." He kissed the inside of her palm and pulled her closer so that he rested his forehead against hers. "I was so scared little bird...so scared."

She looked up at him with the dark, enchanting eyes of hers and said softly with a smile "I know...I could hear everything." He then leaned forward and kissed her passionately, pouring all his love and worry in that kiss. She responded with equal passion and wrapped her arms around his neck.

They parted and Jason kissed her nose saying "I love you...I love you so much." Then he saw the smile that made his heart beat a little faster and she replied kissing him lightly "I love you too."

Jason smiled at her words and then saw the tiredness in her eyes, he grinned and said "Come on, rest for a bit...your body hasn't fully healed." She smiled and laid back on the pillows, Jason was about to get up when she caught his hand and muttered "Stay..."

Jason kissed her hand and saw her making space for him on the bed; he smiled and got on beside her. He curled around her and placed his hand around her waist, carefully enough to not hurt her injuries. She placed her head on shoulder and her hands on his.

He kissed her temple and pulled her tighter against him and muttered "You're my little bird and I am never letting go ever again." And he could feel her smile against his skin before she slept and after a few moments of watching her sleep he also gave in.

And that's how the bat family found them later, Jason curled around Raven with her head on his shoulder; both having happy and peaceful expressions. They didn't have the heart to wake the couple up so they left silently, letting the couple find comfort and love in each other.


End file.
